Disk drives include one or more data storage disks that are rotated by a spindle motor. Those surfaces of the various data storage disks that are to be used by the drive for data storage purposes will have an associated head-gimbal assembly. A typical head-gimbal assembly configuration is in the form of a flexible suspension or load beam, a flexure that is mounted on the suspension, and a slider that is mounted on a flexure tongue of the flexure and that carries an appropriate read/write transducer or head. The suspension of each head-gimbal assembly may be mounted on an actuator (e.g., an individual rigid actuator arm; a rigid actuator arm tip of an E-block or the like), which in turn is mounted on a pivot bearing and rotated by a voice coil motor. Generally, each suspension biases its corresponding slider toward the corresponding data storage surface of one of the data storage disks used by the drive.
Each of the data storage disks used by the drive is simultaneously rotated for normal disk drive operations. As the rotational speeds of the data storage disks has increased, so too has the airflow within the disk drive housing that contains many of the components used by the drive. Airflow within the enclosure defined by the disk drive housing may adversely affect one or more aspects of disk drive operations.
Data is stored using a plurality of concentrically disposed tracks that exist on each data storage surface of a data storage disk. Decreasing the spacing between adjacent data storage tracks increases the track density, and thereby the storage capacity of the data storage disk for a given fixed disk size. Track misregistration or TMR relates to the positioning of a read/write head relative to a particular track on the corresponding data storage surface of a particular data storage disk. Increased airflows between adjacent disks of the drive therefore may increase, augment, or enhance TMR. TMR may undesirably increase the access time (e.g., the time required to access data from a particular track), may lead to a loss of data, or both.